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Masariku Report 112 - Provided By Masariku Network THE MOLUCCAS CONCERN COMMUNICATION FORUM Jakarta, October 10, 2000 IPU Delegation Jakarta An Appeal to the International Community in Relation to the Human Tragedy in the Moluccas Dear Sirs, The situation in the Moluccas and in the city of Ambon up till the time of writing this appeal continues to be coloured by acts of violence. The conflict in the Moluccas which started on 19th January 1999 has entered its fifth stage, starting from the month of September 2000 until now. This fifth stage of destruction is counted after the quiet period following the fourth stage (April-August) which included the destruction of several traditional Christian villages on the island of Ambon, 2 Universities, 2 Police complex and various Christian residential areas have been attacked by large mobs of Jihad forces with the full support of several Army units and various individuals within the Police force. * Jihad Forces It needs to be noticed that the fourth and fifth stages of civil rioting in the Moluccas have taken place after the arrival of the Jihad forces from outside of the Moluccas at the end of April. The number of Jihad personnel that have been sent to the Moluccas in 6 phases, up till 1st October 2000, has reached a total of 14.804 personnel (This information was released by the Central Communication Forum of Ahlus Sunnah wa Jamm ah and was quoted in the MHI news, 3-10-2000). The arrival of the Jihad forces in the Moluccas was consonant with the supply of weaponry and ammunition either smuggled in or brought in by containers. The strength of artillery of the Jihad forces is one of the main factors behind the large number of casualties and the escalation of destruction. The central issue that has been used by Jihad forces as a reason for the acts of violence against the Christian Community in the Moluccas is the slander the Moluccan Christian Community are members of the RMS separatist group (Republik Moluccas Seranni, Serani = Kristen) although this slander has been rebutted and clarified over and over again by the Territorial Military Commander and the Government. In the records of the fourth and fifth wave of destruction, almost 100% of the violence has been in the form of attacks, destruction of residential areas and murders, which has been perpetrated by Jihad forces both on the island of Ambon and also the island of Saparua. A number of Christian villages that up to now were able to defend themselves against attacks by local, were totally obliterated by Jihad forces with the support of heavy artillery such as mortars, grenades, heavy weaponry and most the support of the security forces in their attacks as could be witnessed in the attacks on the villages of Poka, Rumah tiga, Waai, Sirisori Amalatu, Pia, the Pattimura University Complex, the Moluccan Christian University complex, the districts of Diponegoro, Airmata Cina, Urimeseng, Perigi lima, Kampung Kolam, the village of Ahuru etc. This does not include a number of villages that have experienced heavy damage such as the villages of Ulath, Suli, Hatiwe Besar, Galala-Hatiwe kecil, the districts of Mangga dua, Tanah Lapang Kecil etc. It turns out that the Jihad forces, which are really armed units of civil militia or replicas of the pro-integration militia of Timor-Timur, possess a strength which exceeds the capacity of the Central Government, Controller of the Civil Emergency and the military command in the Moluccas. There is convincing proof that in these last two phases of destruction this group have been able to freely attack and burn down various civil and military in the Moluccas without being concerned about the presence of the security forces or the government instructions. This freedom to attack has also not been restricted by any form of opposition or anticipation on the part of the Government, military, or the community as a whole. Although there is clear evidence of the involvement of the Jihad forces in each act of violence, the government and the military in the Moluccas seem to have no power to investigate and process this evidence. This has been proved because there has been attempt to handle the case of the Jihad forces Commander, Jaffar Umar Thalib who openly and clearly incited the Muslim Community to continue their acts of violence towards the Christian Community in the Moluccas during his speech at the tabligh akbar (large religious meeting) at the main Al-fatah Mosque, 3rd September 2000. This speech was the motivating force behind the fifth wave of attacks of the Jihad forces which was orientated towards the islands of Saparua & Ambon. * Security Forces The Modus Operandi of the Jihad forces as an armed civil militia that is very similar to the militia formed by the Indonesian Army in Timor-Timur, is a clear indication that the Indonesian Armed forces, especially the Indonesian Army, are involved in the extending of the conflict. The motive behind the Indonesian Army involvement in the last two waves of attacks can be seen in the following : A number of eye witness reports who experienced first hand the attacks of the Jihad forces such as in the villages of Waai, Hatiwe Besar etc, give clear indication that when the mobs attacked these villages they were led by forces in military uniform wearing steel helmets with the civil militia mobs behind them. Besides this, another method used, is that the military led or gave opportunities for the Jihad forces to attack.   Another indication that is just as important is the use of ammunition such as mortars and grenades plus the used of automatic weapons which almost all are Indonesian Armed forces standard military equipment. The fact that the Jihad forces are using military equipment on a large scale also is a strong factor in the destruction of the defences of the Christians and also the security forces that are guarding the Christian villages. The superiority of the their military strength is also acknowledged by the Military Commander XVI Pattimura when he stated that the strength of ammunition and weaponry of the mobs far exceeds that of the armed forces. It is a fact that much of the ammunition that is in the hands of the community has been obtained through transactions with military personnel.   Loss of control of the command of troops as a result of the intervention of command from another source. There are two different chains of command for the army in the field, often when an attack is taking place where army units are involved are backed up by Military Command XVI Pattimura, it turns out that that they do not obey the security command from Kodam as controller but rather obey other commands that make the situation worse. A clear case of this was seen when Christian residential areas of Airmata Cina, Urimeseng, and the village of Waai were attacked and destroyed. It is even clearly when one units fires at another unit in the field, as happened in the districts of Perigi lima, Tantui, the island of Saparua etc. It is not news that covert attacks between army units and the military police (Brimob) or Marines. In situations like this, the main casualties are always on the Christian side. It is not surprising that the Christian community often reject the presence of military personnel as was experienced by Yon Zipur 8 on Saparua (22/9/2000) or the unit of marines in the Benteng area of Ambon. The break down of the chain of military command was acknowledged by Juwono Sudarsono when he was Minister of Defence. According to him, this is a very serious problem that is being faced by Indonesia (quoted from Antara News Online , 25-8-2000 , "A Number of Army Commands Have Lost Control of their Troops ").   The racial conflict in the community have affected the military and has caused covert polarisation and discrimination between Muslim and Christian troops. For example, in the case of the attack on the Police Complex (fourth phase), Christian troops were not supplied with weapons by their leaders. This has also happened among the members of the army and the navy. In general the supply of equipment in the form of weapons and ammunition for Christian troops is minimised or their position is changed to a position that is not strategic. A striking case occurred in the ranks of the navy (second phase) which resulted in the forced change of command in the Naval base in Ambon.   The next strong point in the last two chapters has been the security strategy of the Military that is always late and not at all responsive in anticipating attacks by the Jihad forces. An impression is given that in relation to security it seems that the troops deliberately don t act quickly which gives an opportunity for aggressive destruction perpetrated by the Jihad forces. An obvious case of the fragility of the military security is the commands given by the Commander of Military Command XVI Pattimura, I Made Yasa concerning the pulling out of the security forces in the Christian areas that were vulnerable to attacks. As a result of this strategy, a number of Christian villages and the Pattimura University Campus lost their protection and were totally destroyed by the Jihad forces. On a lower level, the security command in the Christian villages and districts always concludes with no protection provided by the troops for the Christian Community. Maximal security that has been carried out by the troops has only really occurred when the troops themselves have been threatened with attacks from these Jihad forces. This is very evident when the troops took repressive action and mobilized all their strength to put a stop to the attacks of the mobs threatening the areas bordering the naval base, a few hours before the European Union Delegation arrived in Ambon 12/10/2000. This form of security which was quick and effective seems only to take place when critical conditions threaten that have a link with military interests and not when the interests of the community are threatened. III. Government The efforts of the Indonesian Government to put an end to the conflict in the Moluccas by enforcing a state of Civil Emergency in Ambon from 27th June 2000, has totally failed because there has been no attempt to stop the mass violence rather the violence has escalated. The main factor behind the failure of the government efforts is because the government is unwilling to put a stop to the conflict in the Moluccas. This statement is based on the evaluation of the working of the Moluccan Governor who is not serious in the carrying out of his role as the Controller of the civil emergency in the Moluccas. Generally, the unwillingness of the government can be demonstrated by the inconsistency of the Governor s policies and weak attitude towards the troublemakers. Conversely, the Governor s attitude allows the conflict to continue, such as when he has allowed the mass mobilization and the spreading of the violence carried out by the Jihad forces in the Moluccas besides the non existence of protection by the law and the guarantee of security for the Christian population in the Moluccas. It is not surprising if the local government in the Moluccas is regarded as part of the conflict itself in the Moluccas. On the other hand, the central government is still carrying out the pretense and strengthening the public opinion that the conflict in the Moluccas is a problem of social conflict (horizontal conflict) which is really only a local problem. Whereas, the government knows that behind this horizontal conflict which has been engineered, there is clear indication of an ideological and power conflict between the government and a conspiracy by an elite group consisting of elements of the military, Muslim hard line parties or groups and members of the New Order Regime. The willingness of the Government to expose this conspiracy determines the putting an end to the conflict in the Moluccas. It is a pity that up to now, there is no sign of any initiative or attempt to do anything. It is not surprising that efforts of the central government to put an end to the conflict by trying to reconcile Moluccans has not achieved anything because the government does not want to get to the real root of the conflict in the Moluccas. In relation to this, a statement by the Foreign Secretary Alwi Sihab that the troubles in the Moluccas are guaranteed to be over within a time span of three months is just meaningless political rhetoric. IV. Community Basically the Moluccan community is no longer able to face another escalation of violence which is continually being planned and organised by a political and military conspiracy and is being acted out by the Jihad forces, the security forces and the local government in the Moluccas. Both the Christian and the Muslim community in the Moluccas, have been conditioned and cornered to become involved in this violent. On the side of the Muslims in the Moluccas, incitement and provocation to be involved in these acts of violence, in the name of religion, is being played out by the Jihad forces. Along with this provocation, all opportunities for peace and reconciliation between the two communities in the Moluccas is systematically destroyed. The attitudes of frustration and desperation are clearly felt by the Moluccans who no longer place their hope and trust on the government and the military establishment in Indonesia. Rthe height of political and military conflict in the Moluccas has caused many members of the population to face the dilemma between being involved in the conflict or exert self control. The community are only left with one solution to save themselves that is the presence of a international peace keeping force to act as their shield. This feeling of frustration among the Christian Community in relation to the government and the troops is not without reason, because they have witnessed the systematic expulsion and annihilation of Christianity in various areas within the Moluccas such as in the islands of Banda, Ternate, Tidore, Obi, Bacan, Eastern Seram, Northern Buru, In Ambon, the islands of Lease, Haruku, Western Seram, Piru , Masohi etc. In short the signs leading to the annihilation to the Christian Community in the Moluccas will take place if there is no effort to stem the aggression of the Jihad forces and the conspiracy behind the conflict within the Moluccas. V. Main Option for Rescue Up to now the Jihad forces are still attacking and destroying the Moluccan community. It is the same as with the pro integration militia in Timor-timur, there is no party within the country who is able to stop or expel these forces from the Moluccas. The Government along with the security forces are no longer acting as protector and upholder of Human Rights in the Moluccas. The political and military network behind the conflict in the Moluccas has proved to be difficult for the government to dismantle and to overcome. On the other hand, the slaughter and the aggressive violence is turning out to be ethnic cleansing which escalating with the volume of destruction of regions, number of casualties and refugees. There is no effective choice left for the rescue of the Moluccan Community except the need for the presence of a peace keeping force in the Moluccas as a step towards a putting to the end of violence. This option remains the only possible option after all the other efforts to secure the area and create an atmosphere of reconciliation have failed. The option of bringing in the UN Peace keeping force has proved to be effective in Timor-Timur and this option is the one that has become the demand of the Moluccan Community that are living under the pressure of threats without any protection from the state. Based on the above limited evaluation concerning the situation in the Moluccas, as part of the Moluccan Community that continues to be the victims of violence and acts against humanity, we wish to bring our appeal before the international Community in stating that at this moment the Moluccan Community really needs the presence of the International Peacekeeping Forces to put an end to the violence in the Moluccas which de facto which is no longer guaranteed by the government and security forces of Indonesia. This Appeal we bring to you in the name of Humanity for the remnant of the Moluccan Community which at this moment lives on the threshold of destruction within its own country. We believe that the presence of the International Peacekeeping Force will help bring about an end to the violence and the restoration of a peaceful life in the Moluccas. Thanking you for your attention. May God bless you. On Behalf of the Presidium of the Moluccas Concern Communication Forum Prof. DR. J.L. Nanere, M.Sc DR. J.M. Pattiasina DR. John Titaley Drs. Pieter Sahertian Rev. Alex Pattianakota   Provided By Masariku Network 2000 - Masariku@egroups.com Received via e-mail from : Alifuru67@egroups.com  Copyright © 1999-2000  - Ambon Berdarah On-Line * http://www.go.to/ambon HTML pages designed and maintained by Alifuru67 * http://www.oocities.org/alifuru67 Send your comments to alifuru67@egroups.com